In Melbourne, Milne led the charge for the Saints in a 17.14 (116) to 10.10 (70) win before announcing next week's clash with Fremantle would be his last in the AFL.

The Saints finally have something to celebrate with a drought-breaking win after locking in Lenny Hayes for next season.

Captain Nick Riewoldt also starred with 15 marks and four goals and Leigh Montagna was superb with 33 disposals and three majors.

It was the Saints' first win since downing Melbourne in round 13 and just their fourth for the season.

Further boosting the mood, the club announced on Sunday that 33-year-old midfield star Hayes had signed on for next year.

It was a welcome double-dose of good news for the club, which even if it upsets the Dockers next Saturday, is set to finish with their fewest wins in a season in more than a decade.

The Saints have also had to deal in recent months with rape charges being laid against Milne, over a 2004 case, while fellow small forward Ahmed Saad is serving a provisional suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.

The Saints broke the game open with a six-goal 16-minute burst in the second quarter which turned a two-goal deficit into a four-goal lead.

Riewoldt took five marks for that quarter, booted two goals and could have had more, if not for two missed shots.

Leading by three goals at half-time, the Saints continued to push clear in the third term, kicking three of the first four goals, including a brilliant Montagna snap, to extend their lead to 34 points.

Two classy running goals from Suns youngster Jaeger O'Meara kept the margin to 21 points at the last change. But when Milne kicked his third early in the final quarter, the result was beyond doubt.

Riewoldt, Montagna and Nick Dal Santo (31 disposals, one goal) were the Saints' best, while Clinton Jones prevented Suns star Gary Ablett becoming a match-winner and Ben McEvoy performed well in the ruck.

For the Suns, Harley Bennell, Dion Prestia and Danny Stanley battled hard in the midfield, with O'Meara also handy while Tim Sumner kicked three goals.

SCOREBOARD: GWS v RIC

6.6 (42)

25.13 (163)

Richmond rolled to a 121-point win over Greater Western Sydney in an AFL clash that represented the very antithesis of finals football.

The Tigers booted 11 goals in a second-quarter blitz at the Sydney Showground that was just nine points short of the club's highest-scoring term in its 105-year history, before cruising to a 25.13 (163) to 6.6 (42) victory.

Not since Fitzroy's penultimate game, a 151-point loss to the Tigers in 1996, has Richmond destroyed a team in such a ruthless fashion.

Coming off an upset loss to Carlton, the visitors made as big a statement as they could have against a young side that, like the Lions in 1996, look destined to finish the season with one win.

Aaron Edwards booted five goals for Richmond, who had 12 different goal-scorers, while Dustin Martin had a game-high 33 disposals.

Richmond's percentage was given a timely boost ahead of their first finals campaign in 12 years, rising from 114.6 to 121.4 ahead of Saturday night's final-round clash with Essendon.

The Tigers claimed fifth spot on the ladder in the process, overtaking Collingwood and the Bombers.

There were few signs in the first quarter of the shellacking ahead. GWS debutant Kristian Jaksch kicked the opening goal with his first AFL kick and Liam Sumner slotted a major on the stroke of quarter-time to reduce the Tigers' lead to 10 points at the first break.

The Giants' next goal wouldn't come until the eighth minute of the third term, with Richmond piling on 89 points in-between.

Richmond key defender Alex Rance was magnificent on Jeremy Cameron, who now trails Hawthorn forward Jarryd Roughead by four goals in the race to the Coleman medal.

With GWS away to Gold Coast in the last game of Kevin Sheedy's 29th AFL season as head coach, the match was heavily promoted as the four-time premiership mentor's Sydney swansong.

The Giants at least had a win in this regard, drawing a record Skoda Stadium crowd of 12,314 to the match.

Officials and players from both GWS and Richmond formed a guard of honour for Sheedy at the end of the match.

SCOREBOARD: BRI v WBL

15.15 (105)

15.15 (105)

It seemed like old times when the "Welcome Back Lethal" banner was unfurled in the Gabba stands on Sunday night.

But Brisbane hardly looked like Matthews' premiership-winning teams of old, squandering a 57-point lead before holding on for a tense seven-point 15.10 (100) to 13.15 (93) AFL win over a resurgent Western Bulldogs.

A week after reeling from coach Michael Voss' shock departure, the Lions lined up on Sunday night with yet another major distraction hanging over their heads.

Indeed their final home match of the year had become an afterthought after ex-mentor Matthews jumped on a rival ticket hoping to topple Lions chairman Angus Johnson as the race for master coach Paul Roos heated up again.

And a quick glance at the banner amongst the Gabba faithful on Sunday night would only have reminded the Lions players of the looming boardroom stoush.

At first the Lions seemed oblivious as they romped to a 13.2 (80) to 4.6 (30) half-time lead.

Brisbane was flying high after Dayne Zorko's second consecutive running goal - and the Lions' fifth straight - blew the deficit out to 57 points in the second term before settling for 50 by the main break.

But the tide starting turning after Merrett was stretchered off early in the third term with a suspected ankle complaint.

Remarkably the Lions would only kick 2.8 for the rest of the game as the Bulldogs came roaring back.

At one stage the visitors kicked eight out of nine goals to reduce the deficit to just 10 points in the final term.

Lions tagger Andrew Raines appeared to boot a settling major for the hosts to blow the lead back out to 16.

But the Bulldogs' Luke Dahlhaus made up for a point blank shank by kicking truly for a major moments later before Daniel Giansiracusa received a dubious 50m penalty to make it a five point game in the dying moments.

Somehow the 20,130-strong Gabba faithful willed the Lions to the gripping win - their sixth straight home victory of the year.